Feelings of failure (nano challenge #6) on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Joella Curtis

May 26, 2016 1:42 PM

Feelings of failure (nano challenge #6) by Joella Curtis

Charms was her favourite class, the one that she excelled in more than the others, but today Joella definitely didn’t feel that way. She wasn’t quite sure how it had occurred but she’d totally spaced about the Charms test she had that morning and had therefore been altogether unprepared for her third lesson that day. She’d only been reminded of the fact she had a test upon overhearing someone mention it in Transfiguration and had hastily extracted her textbook from her bag to skim desperately through the relevant pages on the journey in between the two classes which really wasn’t very long at all and nothing had sunk in.

The last thing she wanted was to be making a bad impression on the new professor, who was very friendly (and handsome) but probably not someone she wanted to get on the wrong side of. She supposed she was better off going into a Charms test with no revision whatsoever than a Transfiguration test but any form of positivity had left her body by the time the class were released to lunch. It had gone terribly. Sure she’d answered every question but it had all been complete hogwash.

With two hours to recover before having to work her brain again, Joella dumped off her school robes and bag (dreaded Charms textbook and all) off in her dormitory and changed into some sportswear. She didn’t know what she was expecting to find when she headed to MARS but when she entered the sports room she was surprised to find that it seemed to be set up for boxing or something with a range of punch bags and speed balls.

Joella frowned, was she angry about the stupid test? Either that was the case or her brain had been so fried it hadn’t been able to come up with anything she wanted so the room had just supplied her with whatever it had last been used for.

The fifth year shrugged, guessing it wouldn’t be a bad way to let off steam. She knew her sister Franki did something similar as part of her fitness regime so it definitely had physiological benefits that would make it worth her time. Joella picked up a pair of boxing gloves and pulled them on. She knew very little about sport but thought one couldn’t go far wrong if she was just punching some bags and not actual people.

Joella approached one of the speed balls, pelting it with punches in quick succession. It didn’t have the effect she was looking for, however, so she soon stopped and looked around for something that would work better for her. Now that her adrenaline had got going the fifteen year old realised that maybe she was more bothered by this test than she’d at first thought. Yes she’d been pretty exasperated during it and annoyed with herself immediately afterwards when surrounded by everyone else going “what did you put for…” and then the responses being so far from whatever she had come up with. But now that she was left to dwell on it, she felt disappointed that she had made such a mess of things. This was CATS year and whilst the test hadn’t counted towards that (but had been more to give Professor Perrault an individual idea of the levels of his new students) it was still good practise for getting into that studying mindset. How did Joella expect to do well in her exams at the end of year if she couldn’t even be bothered to remember when she had tests, let alone actually study for them?

The Pecari guessed she should take it as a wakeup call and be thankful that she’d made the mistake early enough on in the year that she would have the chance to make up for it. Perhaps she was too concerned with having the best year both Quidditch-wise and socially that she was already beginning to let her studies sit on the backburner which was certainly something she couldn’t afford to be doing in such an important year.

Joella glanced briefly at the smaller punch bags but quickly came to the conclusion that the big one was more suited to her current needs. She stepped towards it, eyeing it up and then shooting her right arm forward to make the first blow.

“Ow!” Joella exclaimed, her arm recoiling like a spring as her punch stopped abruptly upon hitting the solid bag. She glared at the heavy bag, clutching her painful wrist close to her body. This was meant to be a way of releasing anger? Right now she felt far angrier than when she’d first entered the room. Why had MARS even provided her with a stupid punching bag that was too heavy to punch anyway? It didn’t occur to Joella that perhaps it would have been wise to have tested the weight of the bag before punching it so forcefully, or that the problem may also have lay in her technique. She sighed, leaning against the large bag, cradling her wrist and hoping that the pain was merely shock and would soon subside.

8 Joella Curtis Feelings of failure (nano challenge #6) 295 Joella Curtis 1 5

Jax Donovan

May 26, 2016 9:54 PM

Everyone has them. by Jax Donovan

Classes were the usual bore but today was a little more stressful because of the Charms exam that they had. Thankfully, Jax had taken the time to study with his sister and anyone else that was willing, so he felt that he had done pretty well on it. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t need some recuperation from the day in general. It was only half over, but he felt worn out.

Jax took a long sip of the water that he carried as he headed back to the MARS sports room. He liked to use the room during meal times because most people were too busy to bother with them and so he was left alone for the majority of the time. He didn’t do it every day because his muscles would become overworked and the routine would become stagnant. His coach said the worst thing to do was become stagnant. So, he only came every other day and the off days were used for running and legs. He had to be strong from head to foot so as much as he enjoyed boxing and watching his body change from that, he couldn’t only focus on his top half.

After class, Jax had gone to the MARS room to set everything up before running off to change and grab some water. Now that he was back, he could focus on his workout for the afternoon. He opened the door to the sports room only to find it occupied by Joella. Surprise registered first when he realized someone else was in the room but also to the fact that it hadn’t changed from his gym. He didn’t know if that meant that she had wandered in with the purpose of working out or just wandered in without a purpose at all.

It was clear from her position that she hadn’t seen or heard him enter. Jax was always quiet and it was easy for him to fall into the background without being seen. He watched her as she shifted between bags, clearly trying to figure out which one she wanted to use the most. It didn’t take long for her to choose the bigger one. In an almost déjà vu like fashion, he watched as she punched the bag without preparing herself first or in the correct posture or stance and ended up hurting herself. He would never understand why people thought punching a big heavy bag would be easy.

“You’re posture is wrong.” He called out from his place at the wall. He pushed off the wall and walked towards her. “You have to square your body so that most of the force is taken in the lower half.” Jax explained. “Like this.” Jax positioned himself in front of the bag, one foot planted firmly in front of him while the other was a step behind him for balance and to take the force. He took a couple of jabs at the bag, his arms tight but not restricted in movement. His jabs were quick and resounded in thuds against the bag. He stood up straight and moved away, giving Joella his usually smirk that was rare to see. “If you go full in with your hands taking the force, you end up hurting yourself.”

6 Jax Donovan Everyone has them. 296 Jax Donovan 0 5

Joella Curtis

May 29, 2016 4:25 AM

Even you? by Joella Curtis

Joella straightened up abruptly when someone spoke. She had thought she was alone and blushed a little at the fact that they had clearly watched her failure unfold, not that it was probably noticeable due to the mild pink flush that her cheeks already wore. It was Jax Donovan, quite a distinctive voice because of his accent, but all the more distinctive (in her opinion anyway) when she turned to look at him.

The fifth year bit her lip, partially glad that Jax seemed willing to help her but also feeling rather humiliated for needing said help. She was not a weak girl due to her athletic pastimes so she’d thought this shouldn’t be so difficult.

She watched, unusually silent, as Jax demonstrated how to do it properly. He looked impressive and obviously knew his stuff so Joella tried to concentrate on what he was doing so differently from her. And then he shot her a casual smirk, because Jax Donovan was just that… cool.

The Pecari rotated her wrist briefly to shake off any remaining discomfort and moved back into the spot that he had vacated. She imitated the stance Jax had shown her, trying to replicate his position as best she could. She set one foot ahead of the other, ‘squaring’ her body as instructed and hoping somehow the idea of taking most of the force in her lower half would make sense when she attempted punching the bag again. She glanced sideways at Jax, as though waiting for any corrections before putting the advice into action.

Joella was generally not a self-conscious girl but like most teenagers she could still have her moments. And now, standing before Jax Donovan, about to take on his sport and show she had been listening to his instructions and not just staring at his arms, was definitely one of those moments. She tried to block him out and focus on the task at hand, trying to get into the mindset she so often used in Quidditch.

She punched the bag carefully at first, not wanting to hurt herself again, and then harder. The second punch was more satisfactory and the sound it made against the hanging cylinder was rather rewarding, even if it didn’t compare to that of Jax’s clearly more forceful hits. Fuelled by this, Joella continued to fire punches at the bag. Although her blows were in fairly quick succession in an attempt to replicate Jax’s movements, she was still trying to push her weight through the heavy bag too much. As she took her final swing, her gloved hand landed to the side of the bag, which had seemed like a good idea at the time but as her arm extended she found that it pulled at her elbow.

Ignoring this, she turned to Jax with a smile, pleased that she had at least not injured herself. “How did I do?” she asked, blue eyes bright with the rush from all the punching. There was a part of her that wondered how fun it would be to actually punch a person like that but she thought she probably shouldn’t encourage herself on that.

8 Joella Curtis Even you? 295 Joella Curtis 0 5

Jax

May 29, 2016 5:19 PM

of course. I am human...most of the time. by Jax

He wasn’t quite sure why he was being helpful to her. It wasn’t really his style. But last year he had helped the blonde when she needed it and Joella seemed to be having the same sort of issue. He was quite surprised to see her in a room like this, if he were being honest. He thought she’d have changed it to mimic the Quidditch pitch or something. The people in this school were way too Quidditch obsessed.

Jax watched her as she made to make a few strikes at the bag after he had demonstrated for her. “Almost perfect.” He replied in his low quiet voice, stepping behind her for a moment to help perfect her stance. “Your dominant side should always be away from the bag. So, for instance, I’m right handed, so my left side is forward.” Jax explained, tapping her shoulders gently to have her correct them and stand with the non-dominant side in front. “Your feet should always be the width of your shoulders apart for balance.” She had done fairly well with her feet placement, but she was a little too square in her stance and if she were ever to actually try boxing, it would leave too much of herself open. “Knees should always be a little bent too.”

That was just the legs portion of it. “Your hands should always be at chin level and elbows close to your sides, like this.” Jax took her wrists gently and lifted up close to her chin. “But keep your back and head straight, don’t hunch over to meet your fists.” He advised, remembering each little detail his coach taught to him. He took a step back to review how she was standing now. “Your back foot, the dominate one, should be pointed slightly out so that your stance isn’t too square. It helps to keep your footing when you get hit. For boxing…” he added. He didn’t think Joella was suddenly going to start up boxing, but if she were going to start punching a bag, it was still proper etiquette to stand and punch correctly.

“When you go for a punch, tighten your fist and body for the impact. As you throw forward, make sure to roll your wrist so that your palm is facing the ground. That’s the hardest impact you can give when you through a straight punch without causing yourself harm.” He told her. Jax normally didn’t talk all that often, but it was just him and Joella and she had seemed to want to know what she was doing wrong. Besides, it was boxing and it was something that he really enjoyed doing. Gia and his mother didn’t care enough to really listening when he talked about it, so it was a little nice being able to at least show someone.

He realized, standing next to her, that she was a bit shorter than he noticed before. Not quite as short as his sister, who was nearly a whole foot shorter than he, but still smaller than he really gave her credit for. Like Sammy’s height. It amused him that for such sporty people, they didn’t have much height to them. Jax took a step away and gave her the bag again. “Have you decided to take up a new sport, or are you just having a rough day?” He asked, his way of starting casual conversation.

6 Jax of course. I am human...most of the time. 296 Jax 0 5

Joella

May 31, 2016 1:30 PM

But you're an <i>Aladren</i>... by Joella

Joella grinned when Jax told her she had almost been perfect. That was pretty good going for a beginner, she thought, and she didn’t feel the Aladren was the sort to hand out empty compliments - she was taking his remark as a compliment obviously.

She listened closely as he told her what adjustments to make, allowing him to move her limbs accordingly as well. She was rather conscious of how fast her heart was beating in her chest but decided this was due to the adrenaline of the boxing exercise and not because Jax was a very attractive boy…

Joella blinked sharply, removing her dreamy gaze from her instructor’s face and forcing herself to focus on what she was doing. The last thing she wanted was Jax to catch her looking like a pathetic lovelorn schoolgirl rather than a keen boxing pupil who was totally worth his time.

The Pecari straightened up immediately when Jax said she shouldn’t hunch over, having imagined it was how she was supposed to position herself, and then altered the direction of her feet as instructed. Joella nodded as she tightened her fists, giving a wry smile as Jax mentioned how to avoid causing oneself harm. If only she’d known that in the first place, although if that had been the case she’d probably have missed out on this one-to-one tuition.

She tested out the improvements with a few quick-fire punches but stopped when Jax distracted her with a question. Until now the she’d been rather quiet but now the fourth year had made the mistake of prompting her natural chattiness.

“Well, you know that Charms test we just had...” Joella gave a rueful smile, “let’s just say, I think I’ll remember to study next time.” Jax would probably be horrified at the thought of not studying. He was an Aladren and, although that meant he probably didn’t need to revise because he was uber clever, people from that house studied for nothing just for fun. The lived and breathed studying, they were just that weird. “But who knows, maybe I could get good at this boxing stuff,” she added, having essentially admitted that she was here because she was having a rough day and not because she’d had any intention to pick up a new sport. If she were the kind to really worry about such things, Joella may have realised that the last thing she needed was another activity to distract her from her already minimal study time, but she wasn’t and all of her work resolutions made after sitting the dreadful test were already beginning to slip her mind.

“You know, you’re a pretty good teacher...” the fifth year raised her eyebrows pointedly, not sure if Jax would get what she was hinting at or just think she had a slightly strange way of giving compliments. Joella didn’t think that teaching seemed like something Jax would be into but he was currently doing a very good job of it, although she suspected she might be pushing her luck to think that this could be anything but a one-off.

Seeing as Jax had showed her the basics of how to punch a bag without getting hurt like she had idiotically done just moments earlier, Joella thought she could still put to use what she’d learnt as part of her fitness routine. It certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing having another way of strengthening her arms, especially something so satisfying to undertake as this. And maybe next time Darius tried to pick her up and throw her in the lake she’d have a surprise for him. Okay, perhaps that wasn’t the appropriate use of such skills but it wasn’t far off what she was really hoping would happen. In other words, she rather liked the idea of continuing with what she had learnt further than this one session,

Although the Pecari was pretty thrilled with what she now knew, she was aware that she wasn’t yet at the point where she could use it against another person. She wasn’t ready for that and a small segment of her mind told her that she should never be ready for such a thing. If some people claimed that her participation in Quidditch was unladylike, whatever would they say if she took up boxing. Joella had never been one to care much for the opinions of others, however, and she couldn’t help trying to picture Jax pummelling another person in a boxing ring and wondering how far off she was from that. She knew for sure she’d never be able to compete in the sport or anything so serious but could she not have a little play with it? Jax never shared much about himself so she highly doubted he would gossip about others - maybe it could be kept a secret and so she could never get told off for it.

Joella knew she was jumping way ahead and that this was all very hypothetical thinking because there was no way in hell that she could manage to get Jax Donovan to agree to becoming her personal boxing coach. All personality problems aside, there was nothing in it for him and this was the main reason Joella did nothing more than insinuate that she wanted further lessons - which Jax may or may not pick up on anyway. The fifth year tried to quell her newfound “hopes and dreams” that had appeared so quickly. It was funny how easily one could find a new interest based on the smallest window of opportunity provided, although Joella didn’t know how long she would bother to continue with this new source of fun/fitness without Jax around to correct her mistakes.

8 Joella But you're an <i>Aladren</i>... 295 Joella 0 5

Jax

May 31, 2016 10:40 PM

Failures do not have to be just about studies. by Jax

Jax was typically an astute observer. He noticed the little things. He noticed those who thought they weren’t worth being noticed. He noticed errors. He noticed being noticed negatively. He did not notice when people noticed him in a different way. Such as Joella was currently noticing him as he helped her with her stance. Jax did not see him in any positive way. He knew, logically, that he had the makings of someone who could be attractive, but he did not see it. It wasn’t self-esteem issues or anything that prevented from becoming cocky or arrogant, but rather, Jax just didn’t have the need for such things or care. He knew some girls back home whispered about him and giggled at him when he walked by, but he ignored them as he always did. The only thing he was concerned with was staying behind the scenes and getting stronger. He and Gia had somehow managed to get through three full years here without anyone except Barnaby figuring him out. He just needed to get through four more.

He nodded in approval when her punching hit the bag correctly but stopped when Joella began to explain her purpose for being in the room with him. His icy stare stayed firmly on her face as she spoke. He sometimes forgot that she was chatty. He didn’t spend as much time with her as he did the other girls, but considering Gia, Sammy, and Chuck could be rather social, he wasn’t sure why Joella surprised him with it now. Maybe it was because she hadn’t said much since he walked in that he let it slip to what house she was in.

“Punching things does help to let off some steam.” Jax replied. He knew of some guys at the gym that he trained at where they only went there when they were having bad days. They were the few in between the regulars. Jax did it because he was gaining the strength and knowledge that he required. He hadn’t sparred yet, aside from the dummies here in this room, but he knew the techniques and his Coach helped him hone it in while also building muscle. It was clearly working. His t-shirts were tight around his biceps and chest. He’d have to ask Gia to take it out a bit before Christmas if he kept up his boxing and weightlifting routine.

Jax shrugged at the comment regarding his teaching skills. “I just don’t like to see poor form.” He replied, again giving her his smirk. Jax walked away for a moment to grab the tape. He expertly wrapped the tape around his hands, using his teeth to help rip it. Once his hands were set, he began to do some quick stretches. Stretching was important, or so his coach said, as it prevented muscle strain. He stepped up to another bag and began his usual repetitive punches and kicks against the bag. Kicking wasn’t part of boxing, really, but it helped strengthen his core. He wanted an all-around fit and strong body. His arms were building muscle, his chest was getting bigger, his legs were gaining strength, and his abs were starting to get definition. By next year, he’ll finally feel like his hard work will really show.

When he began his routine, his mind became blank and he focused solely on his fists, the bag, and his kicks. Focus meant no misses. Lunch workouts left little room to waste, so if he wanted to work up a sweat, he needed to make sure he kept with it. Except that he remembered Joella was still there. Pausing for a moment, Jax stood up straight and turned to look to see her. “I work out daily, mostly during lunch, but sometimes in the evening.” Jax told her. “The room is free to join, if you have the time.” He worked out a lot of the blonde last year. She never bothered him and some of her own stuff he implemented himself, like the sprints. He didn’t think having Joella there would be any different. Besides, sometimes it was nice to share something with another person. If she brought along others though, then he might have to find a different time to come. There was only so much socializing Jax was willing to do.

6 Jax Failures do not have to be just about studies. 296 Jax 0 5

Joella

July 08, 2016 11:38 AM

Aladrens are good for more than studies... by Joella

Joella had half a mind to take offence at Jax’s comment about her “poor form” but seeing as she’d managed to hurt herself with just one punch, she had to admit it was a pretty accurate description. That didn’t make it okay for him to accompany the remark with a smirk, however, although there was something about it that the fifth year rather liked. Of course it was feasible that he may have just been looking down on her but Joella preferred to think of it as Jax actually having a sense of humour stashed away behind his icy exterior. Not that Joella really thought it could be described as icy anymore, considering that his hands had sent hot sparks shooting through her (okay that really did sound pathetic).

The Pecari returned to punching the bag as Jax moved away but she took a brief break again to watch Jax as he got into the zone and started on his own workout routine. Probably a little over conscious of watching for too long (which was silly seeing as she was learning from him), she returned to practising her new skills.

Joella was surprised, but glad, when Jax spoke again. She had assumed he’d dismissed her and that she’d lost her tutor until the next time she did some stupid in front of him or actually asked him directly for help with something.

“I’d like that,” she smiled honestly in response to his offer, “thank you.” Joella knew she wouldn’t join him every day because she had other commitments that she simply had to prioritise and a strict fitness regime for herself but she wanted to try and work this in as much as she could.

8 Joella Aladrens are good for more than studies... 295 Joella 0 5